Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Stuck in Ohio...and loving it!

By Anna Prior

The steps at Stambaugh Auditorium evoke images of graduating high school students in caps and gowns or even of wedding parties posed, smiling for a photo. To brothers Ken and Dan Mizicko, those steps and railing offer something else — a place to showcase their snowboarding talent.

The Mizicko brothers are the masterminds behind Stuck in Ohio Productions, a two-man film operation that produces everything from music videos for local artists to their specialty, extreme sports highlight reels.

What started as two Vienna brothers filming each other's extreme sports stunts and tricks, has blossomed into a small-time video production company that focuses on showcasing local extreme sports talent.

“Our goal is to get big enough or known at least in our industries so that we can become an outlet for kids in northern Ohio to kind of grow and blossom and get the same chances that a snowboarder would have from Aspen or a surfer from Hawaii,” 24-year-old Ken Mizicko said. “There's nothing based in Ohio. Hopefully some kids can get sponsored from being in our movies and stuff like that, from industry folks seeing our stuff.”

The brothers have already put together several sponsorship videos for local athletes, 21-year-old Dan Mizicko said.

Stuck in Ohio also released a nearly 40-minute video, filmed and edited by Dan, featuring friends and local talent. The video, “Funday” features skateboarding and BMX.

At first glance, the name Stuck in Ohio may sound negative, but the brothers emphatically say the name was born out of love for their home state.

“We say 'Stuck in Ohio' and normally we add 'and loving it',” Ken said.

“I just want people to see that you can do so much more in Ohio than you think,” Dan said. “Most people think, 'Oh, there's nothing in Ohio', whatever, but we have so much to do here. There's so much talent here.”

Stuck in Ohio started like a lot of small production groups do, with a basic video camera and two guys looking for entertainment.

“One day my brother got a video camera for Christmas and we started taping stuff, like our stupid shenanigans,” Ken said.

Soon, small skits and “stupid shenanigans” gave way to each other's sporting pastimes — extreme or action sports. Including skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, water skiing, BMX and free-style motocross biking.

Stuck in Ohio Productions was officially born in 2003, Ken said, with Dan handling most of the filming and production work, and Ken focusing on the business-y side of things.

Both brothers credit their love of extreme sports to being raised on a farm with a lot of open spaces, a lake and family with a passion for sports with more of an edge.

“Our parents got us into snow skiing when we were little and then we had a boat, so we did water skiing in the summer,” Ken said. “Eventually skiing turned into snowboarding and then snowboarding got boring so we started doing tricks and stupid stuff. Then my brother got into skateboarding from snowboarding and I got into wakeboarding from snowboarding so everything just kind of snowballed into what it is today.”

The brothers were fortunate to have the support of the family when it came to extreme sports because although the Valley has the resources necessary for action sports, the culture has yet to really be widely mainstream in the area.

In fact, Dan said local skateboarding culture has declined over the last several years. This is marked not only by the closure of several area skate parks, but also by the decrease in the number of kids that show up at the skate park located at the Mizicko family's Vienna home, he said.

However, this doesn't mean that an extreme sports culture is non-existent in Youngstown, both brothers said. Rather, it means that the culture is more underground and may be difficult to find if you don't know where to look.

Both brothers hope that Stuck in Ohio Productions can help promote the local culture, especially via the Internet. Stuck in Ohio has a MySpace page and Dan posts most of his videos on YouTube. Stuck in Ohio's longer features can be found in local skate and ski shops as well.

The brothers also recently made Stuck in Ohio T-shirts. Initially made for friends, the shirts have gained popularity around Youngstown. Nearly 300 Stuck in Ohio shirts have been distributed, Ken said.

Although most of the brothers' passion lies in the world of extreme sports, that doesn't stop them from branching out into other areas.

Stuck in Ohio has also produced videos featuring local music artists, such as Youngstown's rapper 2Fly or Cleveland rockers Jackie.

The filming techniques can be quite a bit different when dealing with music, Dan said, but there are some similarities.

“When I cut music videos, I like to cut them really fast paced, which reflects off our other action-sports material,” Dan said.

Unlike filming most concerts, extreme sports filming can be a difficult task.

“Being able to shoot on the fly” is a must in this line of work, Ken said. “There'll be times when I'll be like, Dan let's go, and my brother will grab the camera and go over a 40-foot jump in the air with me. I'll be in front doing my trick and he'll—we call it a follow cam — he'll be following me. He's snowboarding too. He's getting air just like me, but he's capturing the footage.”

Ken said his brother has become very adept at this kind of filming, and is called in to catch action footage for more commercial ventures by another local production company, in Howland, that Dan works for.

Most of the filming techniques were learned through experimentation and by trial and error, Dan said.

“When I'm watching a video, I'm not just watching them to be entertained,” Dan said. “I'm actually studying them to see what kind of stuff they're doing and what stuff I can do to make it better.”

Finding creative ways to adapt more high-tech techniques has not been too difficult for the brothers.

One example is with their shooting video involving water sports. For wakeboarding footage, the brothers were able to rig up a waterproof housing for a camera to be attached to the boat, Ken said. This way, the person shooting the video can take another camera and capture different angles from an inner tube.

The brothers continue to work to find ways to improve their techniques and to get the best-looking footage.

“Every time I make a video I try to one-up my last one,” Dan said. “I want to make a video that I can watch over and over and not get bored.”

So, what does the future hold for Stuck in Ohio productions?

Both brothers said they want to keep Stuck in Ohio alive for as long as possible. Since they both find enjoyment in different aspects of the production company, that shouldn't be too difficult.

Five years from now “I think I'll still be doing it for fun,” said Ken, whose main job is working as an accountant.

For YSU telecommunications student Dan, the next big project is making a video showcasing local talent, but on a bigger scale.

“I want to put out a pretty big video of the whole action sports scene around in the area,” Dan said. “We've got a couple pros around here and we want to recruit some people and make a documentary on Ohio action sports in general. I want to put it out next year, hopefully.”

He also wants to just keep improving Stuck in Ohio productions.

“I just want to keep moving forward,” Dan said. “I want to get more people out there to recognize us, grab a wider audience.”

Even if Stuck in Ohio productions grows and gains wider success, Ken said he will always be stuck in Ohio.

“I have no desire to leave,” Ken said. “I love it here.”

Northeast Ohio has everything that Ken wants — snow in the winter for snowboarding, lakes for wakeboarding or water skiing in the summer, and surfing on Lake Erie.

Dan is also happy in Ohio, at least for now.

“I'd like to be stuck in Ohio as long as possible,” Dan said. “But, if I'm gonna go more into film, you usually have to go East or West for something like that.”

Dan sees film in his future, even if Ohio isn't. If Hollywood comes a-knockin’, Dan said he will never lose touch with his roots.

“I'll always feel like I'm stuck in Ohio, no matter what,” Dan said. “We'll wait and see what happens.”

For more videos head on over to the Stuck in Ohio Productions MySpace page.